"Iris, what are you saying? You have your own performance to worry about," Tang Yiyi told her.
"Don't worry about it, Elder Sister Yiyi. My performance will not be until the latter half of the show," Iris reassured her manager. "Besides, they're my juniors. I can help them so why not let me?"
It was Night who spoke up from the band first. He looked at Iris straight in the eyes. "We've never played together before. And we don't have time to practice now."
"I can coordinate with you. I've listened to your music in the last few days. I know how to play your songs." Then she turned to Eros. "Can you let me borrow your guitar? If not, I can borrow one from the show."
"Of course you can borrow my guitar," Eros replied with his mesmerizing voice. "But I use a left-handed guitar…"
"No problem. I can use either right-handed or left-handed."
"Wow, goddess! For real? You're gonna play with us? I'm so stoked!" Thunder was almost bouncing in his excitement.
"Ahaha! This is great! I don't even care anymore if we mess up our performance tonight. Just having Senior Iris perform together on the same stage tonight will guarantee that we're gonna be the talk of the town afterwards." Blaze turned to their manager. "Big Sis Yiyi, let us do this! We want to do this!"
"You!" Tang Yiyi sighed, massaging her temples.
In the end, the manager agreed to the idea. She trusted Iris but not so much the young men. After asking Iris to look out for her juniors, Tang Yiyi left to bring Eros to the hospital for treatment.
Jin Liwei walked beside her and she could feel that something was bothering him. He looked stiff and although most of his face was covered by a mask and shades, she knew that his expression looked unpleasant.
"What is it?" She asked him in a whisper.
He hesitated before saying, "Nothing. Don't worry about me. Just do your best on the stage out there. I'll be watching and waiting for you backstage. I know you're going to be amazing, love."
"Okay. Watch me, darling."
"En."
She met up with Blaze, Night and Thunder who were already on stand-by.
The young men's eyes lit up when they saw her, looking at her up and down with appreciation. But when they tried to stand closer to her, they felt a cold and dangerous aura from the tall bodyguard beside her. They instinctively stepped back.
The three young men chatted with each other instead, but as their performance drew nearer by the second, they began to feel nervous. Fortunately, seeing Iris looking unfazed, they were somewhat able to force themselves to calm down.
###
"Welcome back to 'MusicFest Tonight'!" They said together.
"Are you ready for the next performance?" The male host asked the audience.
Audience: "Yes!"
"Our next performers are a rock band that is gaining attention because all of their members are very good-looking—"
The female host couldn't finish her introduction because a group of teenage girls and young women began screaming.
"Uwah! Is it Pandemonium? Finally! It's the turn of my four husbands!"
"Eros, my love! I can't wait to see you!"
"Blaze, I love you!"
"I offer myself to you, Night! You can do whatever you want to me!"
The male and female hosts looked at each other and smiled wryly. Fortunately, they were able to calm the overexcited fangirls to a certain degree.
"Yes, you got it right. Our next performance will be by the rock band, Pandemonium!" The female host continued.
Excited screaming once again.
"However, there seems to be some sort of trouble backstage," the male host informed them. "The lead guitarist, Eros, got injured earlier and had to be taken to the hospital for treatment."
"What?! My Eros is injured?! What happened?!"
The fangirls started freaking out. Even the male fans of the rock band expressed their concern.
The hosts didn't give any additional details about Eros' injury as the show was in a tight time schedule. They hurried to finish the introduction.
Female host: "Despite the accident, Pandemonium still showed their desire to perform tonight. How admirable! Very professional!"
Male host: "Indeed. Fortunately, the band managed to get a lead guitarist to substitute for Eros…"
"Yeah! Eros is the only lead guitarist that we'll accept for Pandemonium!"
The fans were starting to get unruly, expressing their dissatisfaction at the current situation. They wanted to know more about what happened to Eros. They also couldn't accept that the band decided to perform with another person.
The hosts pretended not to hear the complaints and continued.
Female host: "I think that all of you will be so shocked once you see who the band got to substitute for Eros."
Male host: "I agree. When I saw the name, I thought that it was a misprint at first. To be honest, I'm excited myself to see this person play lead guitar in a rock band. I just can't imagine it!"
Female host: "Exactly! So without further ado, please welcome our next performers, the rock band Pandemonium—"
Male host: "And the one and only Iris Long!"
"Ah?"
The audience stopped, all looking confused. Did they hear it correctly? Iris Long was playing lead guitar in a rock band? What in the world?
The fans of Pandemonium became even more unruly.
"What the hell? Why is Iris substituting for Eros? Can she even play lead guitar? This is ridiculous!"
"Damn! Is she using our boys to gain publicity for her comeback? I object! She should just mind her own business!"
"Maybe the lead guitar part is already prerecorded and she'll just stand there pretending to play."
Hearing the insults to their boss, the Black Stars felt offended. They started quarreling with the Pandemonium fans.
The lights dimmed for a few seconds before the spotlight hit the centre of the stage.
Blaze stood at the very front, looking very dashing in front of the mic stand. Night looked as dangerously handsome as ever with his bass guitar. The ever smiling Thunder looked cute as always as he bounced on his seat in excitement behind the drums.
Then everyone saw Iris. Her elegant off-shoulder long black dress with thigh-high slit on one side contrasted with the band member's leather, spikes, metal and biker outfits. She should've looked out of place with her sophisticated outfit, but her high and sleek ponytail, bold cat eyeliner and blood-red lipstick successfully made her look as if she belonged.
That was until the fans recognized the guitar in her arms.
"What is she thinking? Does she think that everyone can play left-handed guitars just like that? She must be dreaming!"
Iris swept her eyes across the rowdy fans. Raising an eyebrow at them, her hands moved. Her fingers were quick like lightning yet smooth like fluid, as she produced an eruptive tune made up of a complicated chord progression. It was swift, sharp, heavy and electrically AWESOME!
Then she stopped.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds.
Loud applause and screaming.
The Black Stars went crazy with delight. The Pandemonium fans went crazy with shock. The rest of the audience was captivated. Everyone asked for more.
Iris looked at the three band members and nodded. Even the three looked shocked but quickly recovered. Excitement glittered in their eyes as they looked at Iris in a new light.
Blaze spoke to the mic in a low voice. "My fellow souls, both living and lost, are you ready to experience a 'Nightmare'?"
The drummer, Thunder, tapped his sticks. "Three, two, one!"